Amalgamator



A. FERGUSON AMALGAMATOR March 28, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed May 3, 1947 N W w e r n m W N 4 March 28, 1950 A. FERGUSON AMALGAMATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed May 3, 1947 AWE/woe E im A. FERGUSON arch 28, 1950 AMALGAMATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed May 3, 1947 Patented Mar. 28, 1950 AMALGAMA'TOR Andrew Ferguson, Pasadena, Calif.

Original application May "3, '1947, 'Serial No. 745,777. Divided and this application July 26,

1948, Serial No. 40;562

(Cl. v209118.)

.6 Claims.

This .invention relates to amalgamators :and it has reference more particularly to improvements in amalgamators of that type wherein the separation of the 'precious metals from the crushed ore is effected by grinding, washing .and an application of centrifugal force to the crushed and ground material while it is being washed; this application being .a divisional part of a copending application filed under Serial No. 745,717 on May 3, 1947.

It is the principal object of this invention .to provide an improved meansfor the separation, of concentrates from the sand or waste, including a succession of .eccentrically rotating pans .and

means for washing the sand sucessivelv from one pan to the other for repeated treatment while the concentrates separated in the individual pans are washed to a collecting vessel.

Other objects of the invention reside in the novel details of construction and combination of parts embodied in the device and in their mode of operation, as will hereinafter be fully described.

In accomplishing the above mentioned and other objects of the invention, "I'have provided the improved details of construction, the 'preferred forms for which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the present amalgamator, eliminating from the view'substantially all of the supporting frame structure for better illustration.

Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the separating unit.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of a portion of the machine as seen on the line 3'3 in'Fig. -1.

Fig. 4 is an irregular horizontal section substantially on the line 44 in Fig. 2, showing one of the sand and concentrate separating pans.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional detail of "a hearing, as on line 5-5 in Fig. 2.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

In its present preferred form of construction, the machine comprises a horizontal bed prplate I constituting the *basemember of a frame struc- 'ture, not herein shown except 'in';part,'whereby top of theframe. structure, plateB also being :part of ta 'bracket and "substantially midway between the plates l and], and the plate 6 being midway between plates "5 and T and fixed on the frame "structure. In Fig. 1,1 have shown the brackets "of which plates5 and '1 are parts, as-being bolted rigidly to the plate 6 at lower and upper sides thereof. Plate 6 is rigidly fixed in the frame.

Supported by the various plates I, 5, 6 and "l, in succession from the lower end of the machine upwardly, are the concentrate separating pans, the ore grinding and polishing elements, the ore :crusher "and the driving gearing, for the drive shaft of the ore crushing and the grinding -ele- 'ments. The ore crusher, which is located at the upper end of the machine, is designated in itsentiretyby numeral 8 and, briefly described, it comprisesan exterior housing 1 0 which is cylindrical in cross-section and disposed with its axial line invertical position. This housing is formed with an encircling, horizontally projecting flange H that is secured by bolts l2 to the plate 6, the plate 6, as noted in Fig. 1, being formed with an opening I3 into which the lower end portion of the housing extends.

At the top of the housing In there is attached an upwardly directed, conically tapered receptacle 15, into which the ore that is to be ground may be fed by suitable means, for example, as from the chute IT. The lower end of the cylindrical housing 10 is open, and has a conical discharge spout l8 applied thereover, the plate being held in place by bolts l9 applied through its peripheral portion and threaded into the lower end of housing l0.

Located between the plates 5 and 6 is the ore grinder, which is designated in its entirety by numeral 20. This grinder comprises a cylindricalhousingZZ, coaxially aligned with the crusher housing 10. Disposed Within the housing 22 is ore crushing and grinding .mechanism operable by a drive shaft 24 that extends upwardly and icoaxially through and above the crusher hous- 'illg. Atits'upper end, the shaft 24 is revolubly contained in a bearing 26 fixed to the frame plate 7. 'A bevel, gear "wheel 23 is fixed on the :upper end of shaft '24 just below the bearing. 28 and th'isis driven by "a bevel gear pinion 29 that is fixed on adriven shaft 30.

"The ,grinder comprises the. housing 22 that is mounted forrotation as previously explained, aboutthescentral, axial line of shaft"24. As seen :inFig. 1, thelhousingZ-Ihas a belt wheel t5 fixed :concentrically thereab'out and about this wheel, .;=a.drivingibelt 46 is extended; the-belt passing also about a driving pulley 4'I fixed on a vertical drive shaft 48 that is mounted in the frame structure.

Crushed ore is discharged from the discharge spout I8 of the crusher into the upper end of the grinder housing 22 and the ground material is discharged from the lower end of the grinder through a vertical pipe shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and designated by reference numeral 65.

The apparatus that is located between the plates I and 5, and on which this application is based, is shown in vertical section in Fig. 2. It is designed to eifect the separation of the heavy concentrates from the sand that is discharged from tube 65. This apparatus comprises a series of separation pans and associated equipment which will now be described.

Fixed rigidly on the plate I, in coaxial alignment with the driving shaft 24, is a tubular, upwardly extended post or standard 80. The lower end of this post extends through the plate I and is there connected with a drain pipe 8I.

Revolubly mounted on the post 80, in vertically spaced relationship, are the separation pans 85, three being herein shown; each being like the others, and therefore one will be described with the understanding that its description applied equally to the others.

Each pan 85 is circular in form, and has a vertical upstanding rim 85', a, bottom wall 86 that slopes from the rim downwardly and inwardly to an upstanding wall 85a about a central opening through which the mounting post 80 extends.

Below each pan is a horizontal basin 89 that is rigidly supported from the post. Each basin, which is of lesser diameter than the pans 85, as noted in Fig. 2, has a peripheral flange 89', and a vertical wall 89a concentrically of the basin but spaced inwardly from the flange 89', thus to divide the basin so as to provide an annular outer compartment 89a: and an inner compartment 89y, which are best shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

Drain tubes 88 lead downwardly and inwardly from the trough 81 of each pan 85 and, as seen in Fig. 2, discharge into the inner compartment 89y of the next lower basin.

Each basin 39 is fixed by means of a hub portion to the post 80 and has drain ports 92 opening from its inner compartment into the tubular post which, in turn, drains into the pipe 8I, as seen in Fig. 4.

Each pan 85 is mounted for rotation about the post 80, and it is shown in Fig. 2 that for each pan a supporting bearing 94 is fixed to the post, and the pan is equipped on its under side, and eccentrically of the pan axis, with a mounting bearing 95 rotatably about the inner bearing 94; there being anti-friction means disposed between the bearings 94 and 95. Thus, with the rotation of the pans about the support 80, they will be given an eccentric motion that is very helpful in the operation of separating the gold from the sand.

. .The several pans are individually rotatably driven and for this I provide each with a belt wheel 96; each wheel being rigidly suspended from the bottom of the pan by a plurality of brackets 91. Belts 98 operate about the wheels 96 and about pulley wheels 99 on the drive shaft 48 as seen in Figs. 1 and 4. Belt tighteners-of suitable kind are used to keep the belts tight and permit the eccentric action of the pans.

Closely overlying each pan 85 is an annular water pipe I and these are connected with a water supply pipe IOI. Water supplied through the pipe I0 I. under pressure, is discharged downwardly through perforations I02 in the pipe I00 into the pan 85 thus to wash down the material received from tube and facilitate the concentrating and separating action and the flushing of the pans. From near the hub portion of the bottom wall 86 of the uppermost pan, a plurality of drain pipes I05 extend downwardly and discharge into the outer compartments of the next lower basin. Each basin is likewise equipped with the drain pipes I06 discharging into the next lower pan in order that the sand may be subjected to repeated separation operations. The sand from the lowermost basin 89 drains into a receptacle I01 and from this, through a pipe I08 to waste. The concentrates which are discharged downwardly through the tubular post are carried through the pipe BI to a suitable receptacle in which the concentrate may be retained.

In the separation operation just described, the concentrate that is collected in each of the several pans is not again allowed to mix with the sand but is discharged to the tube or post and from this to a storage receptacle. The sand, however, is repeatedly subjected to an operation for further segregation of the concentrates therefrom.

While the means above described, for the separation of concentrates from the sand, has been disclosed and described in combination with a specific form of crusher and grinder, it is to be understood that it is not intended that it be restricted thereto but that it may be used with any other means whereby the ore can be satisfactorily reduced and delivered in like manner thereto.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a separator comprising a tubular concentrate receiving standard, a plurality of separator pans with hub portions revolubly mounting said pans on said standard in vertical spacing, means for delivering ground ore into the upper pan, means for rotating said pans about the standard for centrifugal separation of concentrates and sand delivered thereinto, a non-rotating basin fixed on the standard below each pan; each basin having separate inner and outer annular compartments therein; said standard having openings for the draining of the inner compartments of the basins thereinto; each of said pans having drainage means from near its hub portion into the outer compartment of the next lower basin and each pan being formed about its periphery with a collection trough for concentrates and a drainage tube from said trough into the inner compartment of the next lower basin, and means for delivery of wash water into the several pans near their hub portions.

2. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the water delivery means is in the form of annular pipes encircling the hub portions of the pans; said pipes being perforated for the delivery of jets of water downwardly into the rotating pans.

3. An apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein each pan is eccentrically mounted for rotation about the standard.

4. An apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein each pan has a bottom wall sloped upwardly from its hub portion to the collection trough.

5. An apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein each pan is eccentrically mounted for rotation 75 about the standard and wherein each pan has its 5 bottom wall sloped. upwardly from its hub portion to its collection trough.

6. An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein a belt wheel is fixed coaxially to each pan and. belts operate about said belt Wheels to rotate the pans. 5

ANDREW FERGUSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

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